


GU - Amélie's Kiss

by FazedMuttley



Series: Gibraltar University [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-06-10 02:18:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15281412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FazedMuttley/pseuds/FazedMuttley
Summary: A few months following the arrival of her new roommate, Amélie is trying to come to terms with her developing feelings.However, nothing is ever easy, with help and motivation from her friends will Amélie confess her feelings to Lena? Or will she miss her opportunity.





	1. Cherchez la femme.

It was raining, of course it was. Amélie had stopped to take a breather and tried to wipe the sweat from her brow before she realised that it was rain. She had no idea how she had missed that fact, well that was a lie, she knew exactly why she had missed that fact and the problem jogged past her cheerfully.

 

“Come on Amés!” Lena said as she lapped her a second time. With a sigh Amélie ran a little to catch up to the Brit.

 

“It is raining Lena” Amélie mumbled.

 

“It’s only water!” Lena replied cheekily “You take showers in it don’t you?”

 

Amélie sighed as they continued their jog. Lena began to pull ahead of her again and Amélie was once again distracted. She watched Lena as she jogged on, her short bob bouncing as she moved, less so as the rain caught it, her arms moving in a rhythm. Amélie’s attention however was diverted lower, Lena’s leggings didn’t leave much to the imagination, they were tight, and it afforded Amélie a view she couldn’t help but admire.

 

 _‘I’m so gay’_ she thought as she tried to catch up, but it was futile, she continued until she neared a bench and fell into it, it had been just over two months since they started jogging together and she still had no idea where Lena got all her energy.

 

After a few minutes lost in thought she saw a flash of orange in the corner of her eye and looked up as Lena neared her again, the Brit slowed a little to an almost walking pace and smirked at her.

 

“Ever get that feeling of Déjà vu?” Lena giggled after she spoke before returning to her normal pace. Amélie smirked and shook her head, she loved that girl. Amélie closed her eyes and leaned back, she had to admit the sensation of soft falling rain was rather soothing on her skin.

 

She heard someone walking towards her over the patter of the rain and opened her eyes just as Olivia took the seat next to her, upon seeing her Amélie glared finding herself feeling a little envious of the umbrella her friend held.

 

“Ah, so you are awake!” Olivia said smirking at Amélie’s glare “Perfect weather for a jog” she added dryly, Amélie rolled her eyes and moved closer to her so she was under the umbrella, even if she found the sensation of the rain hitting her skin soothing she was rather cold now and in truth the rain was not helping matters.

 

Lena neared again and slowed to a stop upon seeing Olivia. “Hi Speedy” Olivia said with a smile.

 

“Hiya” Lena replied and sat at Amélie’s other side “Should we head back? We can get warm showers!” She added the last statement with enthusiasm as if knowing that Amélie would appreciate that comment.

 

“You have to” Olivia said, “Your first shift starts in about an hour or so, right?” Lena’s eyes widen, and she checks her watch, she’s up and starts running towards the dorms in moments, Amélie watches her with a raised brow as she skids to a stop before turning and running back.

 

“See you!” She cheered when she neared before quickly spinning around again this time keeping on track towards the dorms.

 

Amélie watched her leave until she was out of sight and turned to her friend who was looking at her with a raised brow. Amélie stood and began walking the way Lena had gone, Olivia called out to her and moved to catch up, handing her the umbrella so she could hold it given the fact the French girl was taller.

 

“Gabe wasn’t kidding”

 

“Shut up” Amélie warned.

 

“I mean that look, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do that before” Amélie continued walking ignoring her as best she could and quickened her pace, but it was matched, and her friend continued with her teasing “Now that was some kind of Angela and Fareeha lovey dovey shit right there”

 

“Stop talking” Amélie said but Olivia didn’t and continued all the way through the trip back to the dorms.

 

Upon arrival Amélie immediately grabbed the fresh clothes she had left on the kitchen counter before she and Lena had left earlier that morning, quickly excusing herself to the shared bathroom when she noticed that it had been recently vacated. Upon entering the room, it came as a surprise that the shower was even still running, Lena must have known she wouldn’t be far behind. As she closed the door she noticed the mirror.

 

Lena had drawn a smiley face on the glass with _‘Hi Amé’s!’_ written underneath, although it was rapidly fading in the steam, she found herself glad she caught the message in time and was actually thankful for Olivia’s teasing as it had prompted her to walk faster.

 

She pulled off her wet jogging clothes, dropped them in the clothes basket and climbed underneath the running water, one of the many things she and Lena had in common was water temperature, she let the hot water warm her up and ran her hands through her hair.

 

She took her time in the shower, savouring the heat and the quiet. Once she was done she moved to the mirror, after wiping away the steam and somewhat reluctantly the remnants of Lena’s message, she retrieved her makeup from her basket and set about applying the same, it didn’t take her long she didn’t feel like doing anything overly complex today, some basic eyeshadow and mascara she added some lip gloss before grabbing a hair tie and leaving the room, however she didn’t make it far and froze with her hands in her hair.

 

Lena was leaning over the kitchen counter facing towards the living area talking with Olivia who was probably watching something on the television. Amélie’s attention however was focused on Lena. As she tied her hair up she appraised her friend and found herself not for the first time in recent weeks wishing she didn’t have these feelings.

 

Lena stood wearing a white dress shirt with a tie tucked under the collar, but it hung loose and was not yet correctly in place, the shirt itself was tucked into a pair of black dress pants. Amélie smirked when she saw Lena’s red converse, hardly appropriate to the uniform but so appropriately Lena, her apron and waistcoat were folded neatly next to her resting on the counter as she ate some breakfast.

 

As she neared Amélie noticed something shining on the floor and picked it up, upon inspection she realised it was Lena’s name badge. She walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder offering her the badge.

 

“I think, this may be yours _Chérie_ ” she added a smile that elicited a blush from Lena.

 

“I… I put on some coffee” Lena replied with a smile of her own as she took the badge and placed it on top of her waistcoat.

 

Amélie turned grabbing her cup from the cupboard and set about pouring herself some coffee, she didn’t sweeten it, nor did she add milk, it was still morning, she had been jogging for a few hours and needed the black ichor of life now more than ever, it was only upon returning to the counter did she actually realise what Lena was eating, or more so she saw what it looked like, she couldn’t actually place what it was, so her confusion was evident when she spoke.

 

“What on earth are you eating?” She asked which caused a snicker from the Olivia. Lena was stood with a small plate in front of her and what looked to be toast covered in some form of black tar like substance.

 

Lena’s eyes widened as she replied, “Marmite on toast?” It ended up sounding more like a question.

 

“Marmite?” Amélie asked to which Lena nodded “As in the yeast extract?” Lena nodded again, and Amélie frowned.

 

“Have you never had it?” Lena asked and looked at her with a raised brow.

 

“ _Non,_ I have never been inclined too”

 

Lena picked up the half she was eating and pushed the other slice still sat on the plate towards her. Amélie frowned at the food, picked up the plate before she gave it a sniff and looked at Lena who made a show of taking a bit of her slice and making exaggerated chewing gestures.

 

Amélie rolled her eyes, placed the plate down before grabbing the slice of toast and taking a bite. She chewed slowly, it was strange to say the least, salty and bitter, but in truth it wasn’t as bad as she was lead to believe, so she took a second bite and a third and before she knew it the slice was gone.

 

She looked at Lena and the girl was smiling at her. “Tasty right?”

 

“It is. Surprisingly so”

 

Olivia made gagging noises and Amélie looked over at her with a raised brow, she shrugged, stood and walked over heading straight for the coffee machine to top up her cup. “I can’t believe you ate it, and that you even liked it”

 

“What can I say it was different and I tend to like different”

 

“Pineapple on Pizza?” Lena asked excitedly.

 

Amélie nodded and Lena grinned and began putting on her waistcoat and pinning her name badge to it.

 

“Your tie, Chérie” Amélie pointed out and glanced at Olivia as she added a copious amount of sugar to her cup.

 

Lena blushed and unfastened her waistcoat, so she could adjust her tie, once it was correctly positioned she fastened her waistcoat again and finished getting ready.

 

A few minutes later Amélie watched her leave, when she looked over at Olivia, who had been silent while Lena got ready, she saw the hacker roll her eyes before mumbling “You are so gay”. Amélie ignored her picked up her coffee and moved to the lounge area, letting herself fall into Lena’s chair as Olivia returned to her place on the sofa.

 

Lena’s chair? The moment that thought entered her head she found herself wondering how long she had been referring to the seat as Lena’s and not her own, she gave a soft sigh and let the thought drift from her mind, it wasn’t important.

 

She brought the coffee to her lips taking a long drink and smiled to herself after a few moments of contemplation, there was a subtle chocolate flavouring hidden underneath the strong blend of coffee they kept in the dorm, she had to admit it was a rather nice addition, Lena always managed to surprise her somehow.

 

As time passed she found herself beginning to relax, she had no idea what she was watching but Olivia seemed to be enjoying it given her offhand comments and the fact that the television held her full attention, all Amélie knew however is that it was some form of reality show that she had no interest in following.

 

After spending several minutes watching the show and seeing several people humiliate themselves live on air for all the world to see her attention was diverted by the sound of music coming from behind her which was abruptly cut off.

 

Upon glancing over her shoulder she saw Gabriel turning away from the door to his room clearly having just closed it behind him, now that Amélie wasn’t so focused on the show she could hear the music even though the closed door muted it somewhat, it appeared Lucio had taken her advice and kept the noise down, however the look on Gabriel’s face showed that he didn’t feel the same and thinking about she imagined that the music was probably akin to a rave while you were in the same room as the DJ.

 

“Okay, who’s for coffee?” Gabriel asked as he neared “Lucio is driving me insane and I need actual human interaction”

 

“We already have coffee” Olivia said holding up her cup to emphasise her point, her gaze still focused on the television and she suddenly let out a laugh, Amélie quickly turned back to the television in time to see someone flat on their back having fallen off the stage during his act and laughed herself as the man continued what he was doing as if his fall was a deliberate part of his performance.

 

“I mean real coffee” Gabriel said once the laughter had subsided.

 

“This is real coffee” Amélie replied and smiled at his confused expression, they all knew that nobody usually made the effort to use the coffee machine unless they were trying to be awake all night whether it be for gaming, binge watching Game of Thrones or revising for exams. She held out her cup which had a little left in it, it was lukewarm at best, but Gabriel took it and drank it all the same and his eyes went wide, and he smiled.

 

“Who made this? It’s amazing!”

 

“Lena” Olivia and Amélie said in unison.

 

Gabriel hummed before speaking “Lena’s shift started not so long ago right?” Amélie nodded “Okay, we are definitely going to the café now.”

 

“We aren’t going anywhere” Olivia replied grumpily “Now shut up you’re interrupting my show”

 

Gabriel looked as if he was about to retort but he chose to remain quiet and moved to the main door of the dorm once there he glanced back at Amélie and gave her a pleading look. She looked around the room and saw that Olivia was once again entranced by the television, so it was clear she wouldn’t get any meaningful conversation from her, then she looked at the television itself, she had to admit the show did have some funny moments, but they were a rarity, then she glanced over at Gabriel who was still looking at her waiting for something in response.

 

After a few moments thought she nodded and stood, first she moved to the kitchen, rinsed her cup out and then left it in the sink to be washed later that evening. She then popped into her dorm room for a coat. As she grabbed her coat from the bottom of her bed, she noticed that Winston had fallen off Lena’s bed and was currently on the floor near her feet, with a smirk she picked him up and sat him back next to Lena’s pillow where he belonged before joining Gabriel.

 

As they walked she tried to justify why she had agreed to go with him, but he didn’t believe a word she said, even though she denied it they both knew it wasn’t for a change of scenery, to stretch her legs or even for coffee. It was for a certain barista. However neither of them said it out loud.

 

Once they arrived at Brewed Awakening Amélie realised she had been manipulated. Gérard, Jesse and Angela were sat at a table for five, the empty seats each had a fresh coffee waiting for their occupants, she turned to Gabriel and the shit eating grin on his face was all the confirmation she needed.

 

Taking seats in front of their respective drinks Gabriel and Amélie joined their friends, although at the present moment Amélie didn’t think the term friends applied to the group around her, annoyances perhaps?

 

Her friends immediately fell into conversation however Amélie chose not join in and tried to ignore them, she folded her arms and leaned back in her chair glancing around the Café. It didn’t take her long considering the place was rather quiet as there weren’t many customers probably due to the weather.

 

With nothing to hold her attention, she glanced over at the Barista station and saw Lena working at the coffee machine, but she quickly turned away and her gaze was back on the table and her friends, Gabriel glanced at her with a knowing smile.

 

She scowled at him and picked up her coffee taking a drink which only ensured that her scowl intensified, she reluctantly swallowed the caffeinated abomination that intruded upon her senses and glared towards the two baristas sat at her table, Angela nonchalantly twitched a finger in Jesse’s direction clearly not wanting to face the French girls wrath.

 

“You fucked up my coffee” she snapped glaring at the American.

 

“Did I?” Jesse said grinning, he knew her drink was wrong “Shame, you’ll ‘av to go get another.” Angela’s face suddenly burst in a smile having realised what was happening, Amélie just facepalmed.

 

She now knew their plan. If she wanted a new drink she would have to go the counter to order a fresh coffee from Lena. It was quite a good plan she had to admit, but they forgot one thing, Amélie Guillard was stubborn so she reached out picked up her cup and took another drink, careful not to wince or give away her distaste.

 

“It is not so bad” She said with a smile, Jesse failed to contain his groan, Gabriel and Angela looked dumbfounded, Gérard smirked most likely having predicted this turn of events and just shook his head.

 

“Well” Gérard said “Let’s get down to business, as much as teasing out sweet Amélie is” she glares at him and huffs in response causing Angela to giggle “Stephen and I have decided to get married in November” he smiled as he finished.

 

“This November?” Gabriel asked.

 

“Yeah” Gérard responded, “And I would like the four of you to be my groomsman.”

 

“Angela and I are female Gérard” Amélie said raising a brow in confusion.

 

“You are also two of my closest friends” he grinned “So it’s happening” he took a drink from his coffee and looked directly at Amélie “Also, you my dear are to be my Best Man.”

 

“Best Man?” Amélie glared at him again.

 

“Best Women then” he chuckles, as the others smirk around him all focused on Amélie.

 

“It’s traditionally a male role” Amélie states matter-of-factly. “Why not Gabriel or, I loath to suggest it…”

 

“Hey!” Jesse tries to interrupt.

 

“Jesse” Amélie finishes at the same moment.

 

“Two men are getting married Amé’s. This wedding is hardly traditional”

 

“Fine, I’ll do it” she agrees after a few moments contemplation.

 

“One more thing” Gérard spoke softly leaning forward “You aren’t going to at my wedding alone, so either you ask Lena, or I will ask her for you”

 

“I… N… No, I can’t” she looks for Lena but quickly decides against it and directs her gaze out the window.

 

“Well…” Gérard starts to say and Amélie looks back at him biting her lip “Looking at her now” He glances to the barista station before continuing “In that smart little uniform” she follows his gaze to Lena as the girl hands a travel cup to a customer with a smile “She looks adorable, imagine her in a suit at my wedding”

 

Amélie looked back at her best friend and he smirked at her again as she sunk into her chair rubbing her face. She removed her hands and leaned forward letting her head hit the table with a dull thud and let out a soft groan.

 

Suddenly a familiar voice came from behind her “Who killed Amélie?”

 

She sat bolt upright and looked behind her “I’m fine!” She replied a little too loudly.

 

Lena frowned and held out a fresh cup. Amélie took it and mumbled a ‘Thanks’ causing Lena’s frown to turn to a grin. The brit greeted each of her friends in turn and took a drink order before she started to walk back to the counter with Amélie watching her the entire way sipping at the coffee Lena had provided her with, that happened to be a perfect recreation of her usual, the same order that Jesse had butchered earlier.

 

When she turned back all four of her friends were looking at her. Waiting for her response.

 

“ _Zut._ ” She mumbled. “Fine, I will ask Lena to the wedding”


	2. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group have some fun at the weekend, however not everything is good.

The longer she peered through her scope, the harder it became to tell how much time had actually passed. Not that it mattered, she was in the perfect position. All that remained was for her target to appear in her sights.

 

She leaned back so that her eye was no longer looking through the scope and appraised her surroundings unaided. Currently she was laying prone on a low rooftop on the far end of the courtyard, she could see it in its entirety and had perfect line of sight with the woodland surrounding the courtyards northern edge.

 

She caught a flash of blue and returned her eye to the scope just as she caught another flash, this time black, she allowed herself a small smile as the anticipation built, it wouldn’t be long now.

 

*********

 

She couldn’t believe she had lost her guns, how stupid was she? She glanced over her shoulder and there he was, gaining on her with every step, she had to think fast.

 

On she ran, breathing heavily, what she wouldn’t give to be able to dash ahead right now.

 

She focused on the path before her and controlled her breathing, upon seeing a break in the trees ahead she pushed herself into a burst of speed and blinked. She felt her feet go out from underneath her and in moments she was face down in the mud.

 

*********

 

There was no escape now, he was closing on her and once she was in his range it would all be over. He could see her up ahead struggling to keep ahead of him and he grinned underneath his mask. He glanced past her and saw the light of day. He pushed himself, he would not lose her, but he didn’t have to worry about that as it was suddenly all over and he allowed himself a laugh.

 

She must have blinked and missed the roots of the trees at her feet, so he stalked closer as she spun and made herself crawl backwards through the mud and through the tree line. He followed and stepped towards her and pushed her onto her back, she looked up at him with fear in her eyes and he levelled one of his guns to her chest.

 

His hunt was over.

 

*********

 

She smiled as they broke the tree line, licked her lips as she took aim as the man in black approached the girl in blue and levelled his gun at her chest, she saw that he was ready for the kill, however she would not allow him the satisfaction.

 

Steadying her scope, she brought her tongue to her lips and held it at the corner as she savoured the moment, the man in black was saying something to the girl. She smiled as she pulled the trigger and her weapon released its payload. Before she could savour the kill however she felt the presence of someone behind her and began to spin bringing the gun to use at close range, but she was too slow and felt her attackers shot strike her and warmth spread across her skin, her hand went to her shoulder and she ran it through her hair near the wound, it came back sticky and red.

 

She snarled “I CANNOT believe you got paint in my hair!”

 

Olivia laughed as she began running away, Amélie gave chase immediately not giving the girl a chance to escape her, taking shots at the hacker as they ran, and she felt her mood increase with each subsequent hit, she slowed down as they neared Gabriel and Lena as he held out his hand, so he could help her to her to feet.

 

She smirked at Gabriel when she noticed the rather large spread of purple paint in the centre of his chest signifying her handiwork and one perfect shot, she glanced at Lena as she wiped her muddy hands on her jeans and smiled when she saw Lena was practically paint free, she may have taken even more satisfaction from the fact that Lena had no black paint on her person meaning Gabriel hadn’t had time to land his shot or any for that matter.

 

She smiled at Lena who smiled back at her “Saved you _Chérie_ ” the Brit blushed then looked away, Gabriel looked at Amélie and rolled his eyes.

 

Olivia walked back over having realised that the french girl was no longer chasing her and the group of four then began making their way out of the paint balling area towards the main building, they couldn’t leave the ‘arena’ until the entire group was present however. So, they waited by a building on the outskirts just outside the entrance to reception, it appeared to be a mockup of a bar or a restaurant.

 

It didn’t take long for more of their friends to arrive and when they saw the state of Jack they burst out into fits of laughter. He was covered head to toe in yellow paint, even his protective mask had clear finger marks where he had wiped it clean so that he could actually see.

 

“What happened to you?” Lena asked through giggles as she and Olivia held each other up from laughing so hard, their laughter only increased when Jack removed his mask and gave them a look of indignation and sent a glare towards Angela, this action caused Gabriel to lean over and grab his knees so he could breath through it, Amélie found the laughter all around her contagious no matter how hard she tried to resist it and found herself joining in.

 

Angela stepped up next to Jack and smiled at them smugly, she was covered in various colours, so it was hard to say who her main rival had been. However, given the amount of blue covering her formerly white coat it was fair to say that Lena had managed to shoot her a few times. In Angelas hands was a long staff of some description, there were several tubes coming from the end connected to a small tank she wore on her back, she smirked at Jack as she hoisted the staff onto her shoulder and began spinning it like a parasol.

 

The remnants of paint on the staff itself and that which was left in the tank were yellow, clearly, she had been in the mood for mischief and Jack had been her unfortunate victim.

 

“We said paint balling” Jack groaned “She brings a cannon”

 

“It is not a cannon” Angela replies looking offended, before smirking “It’s a jet washer from hardware store” Jack rolls his eyes and Angela becomes somewhat bashful “I may have, uhm, made a few modifications”

 

“No way” Gabriel laughed “I admit you are probably the smartest out of all of us, in fact I’m willing to say there’s no question about it” he smirked “But no way you made that”

 

“I may have had help” she admitted with a timid smile.

 

“Lindholm or Wilhelm?” Jack asked “I want to know who to hate”

 

“Lindholm” Angela said “Brigitte Lindholm” Jack glared and after a moment laughed.

 

Jack continued complaining and the others just tended to laugh at his comments as Angela was able to deflect them all with witty remarks. Amélie however was more focused on Olivia who had fallen silent and was very subtlety moving away from the group.

 

So Amélie placed her hands on Lena’s shoulders and moved her ever so slowly behind the wall of the building they stood near, she met Olivias eyes and the hacker smirked giving a subtle nod down the path Angela and the others had arrived down a few minutes prior.

 

“It’s high noon” came Jesses voice followed by the rapid fire of his paintball gun and sounds of the impact as the shots landed on their friends covering them in brown paint. Amélie peaked around the corner as her friends moaned and reacted, Jesse just stood there with a toothpick in his teeth, a shit eating grin and a hand on his belt near the buckle.

 

BAMF was written there and Amélie just rolled her eyes. She was about to move when Lena grabbed her and pulled her back towards the wall.

 

“Time to pay you back love” she said and pointed above her.

 

Hana was crouched on the roof with what looked to be buckets, Amélie allowed Lena to pull her into the reception building and they both looked through the window and saw that the others were still caught in conversation and appeared to be chastising Jesse. Olivia walked over nonchalantly and greeted Amélie and Lena with a smile once she was inside the building.

 

The three stood there in silence and waited for the moment when all hell would break loose. It didn’t take long before Hana’s voice was heard yelling “Nerf This!” the group had barely anytime to react before Hana’s payload was released.

 

The two rather large canisters fell one after the other, upon impact with the ground they exploded covering the group and a rather large area around them in bright pink paint.

 

“That ladies and gentlemen is what we in the business call play of the game” the group turned towards the voice and saw Lucio with a rather large grin on his face holding his phone up to the window, most likely having recorded the whole thing, how they missed him Amélie didn’t know.

 

“How long have you been filming?” Lena asked with a smirk.

 

“Oh” Lucio said as he began tapping away on his phone “The whole thing was recorded, there are cameras all over the arena” he slipped his phone in his pocket and continued. “I’ll be buying a copy of the footage, making a few edits, adding what I just recorded and then it’s going on YouTube”

 

“You weren’t playing?” Olivia asked.

 

“Nope” he replied “Been working on a gig in a few weeks, way bigger than my weekend parties”

 

“Where?” Olivia asked pulling out her phone as it chimed with a message.

 

“Only the hottest spot on campus!” he offered with a massive smile.

 

“Oasis?” Amélie asked with a raised brow.

 

“Yup” he replied popping the P.

 

Oasis was indeed the hottest club on campus and had a very long waiting list for entry, if at this stage it could still be called a list, Amélie was pretty sure that every student was on there now possibly even a few of the teachers.

 

Amélie also felt a pang of guilt, she knew all her friends were on the list waiting for a chance to visit, even Lena was on there, she didn’t know if the brit knew, Gabriel had put her name on there a few weeks ago. She also knew that even though Lucio was set to work there he would have no means to get the group into the club and the fact he was working was the only reason he would get inside himself. Amélie however could walk right through the doors, as could Fareeha though they never had.

 

Fareeha could go just about anywhere on campus unhindered due to her being the Deans daughter, Amélie however came from money she wanted for nothing, meaning that she could walk right up to security declare her name and walk straight in. The name Guillard carried power, it was even written in gold on the arts and science departments.

 

Amélie never let her friends pay for anything when she was around, they go for a meal she pays the bill, they go to see a film or a show then she buys the tickets even beer and other luxuries for the dorms Amélie was happy to oblige, her friends were there for her, so she was there for them.

 

So, when she found her hand pulling her phone from her pocket, she excused herself from the gathering group smirking at her newly pink friends as they arrived and walking further into the building in order to make a phone call. The first number she tried went straight to voicemail, advising that they were working in the London office, so she called that office directly and after a few moments it was picked up.

 

“Good Afternoon, Guillard Legal Solutions. Ruth speaking how can I help?”

 

“ _Bonjour_ Ruth. Its Amélie”

 

“Oh, Hello Amélie” Ruth replied, and Amélie could hear the smile in her voice “Are you wanting your father?”

 

“ _Oui_ ” she heard typing in response.

 

“Okay, I’m going to transfer you to one of the conference rooms”

 

“If that’s the case would it be too much trouble to arrange a video call?”

 

“Of course, I’ll set it up and call you he usual way”

 

“ _Merci”_

 

Amélie returned to her locker and grabbed her belongings and began making her way out of the complex, she dropped her key off at the reception desk on the way past. When she was clear of the building she crossed the road and went into the facilities canteen.

 

Amélie caught a glimpse of Angela as she was perusing the food in the fridges and judging by her damp hair the medical student had taken a quick shower or at least washed her hair, Angela turned at the point to make her way to the counter to pay and saw Amélie and gestured to the fridge, Amélie nodded and Angela smiled and went to grab some more food.

 

Amélie was about to go over to the counter but her tablet starting to chime with an incoming call, so she held up her card to Angela when the girl looked over and she came and took it as Amélie answered the call.

 

On the screen she saw Ruth leaving the room and walking down the corridor through the glass wall. Amélie kept an eye on the screen as she found a table and not long after she sat down the door to the room on-screen opened and her father entered and sat at the conference table placing his laptop in front of him and opened it up.

 

“Just bear with me one moment darling” he said speaking in their native tongue she smiled, it had been a while since she heard her father’s voice and even longer since she held a conversation with anyone in French, given both her parents often spoke English as they were around clients.

 

After a few moments typing he blew air and Amélie smirked when his fringe moved in response, he closed the lid of the laptop and looked at the screen, therefore directly at Amélie.

 

“All yours” he smiled at her “Gérard has been keeping me appraised of your _adventures_ ” she groaned which caused him to chuckle.

 

“Please don’t start”

 

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean” he smirked at her and continued “Anyway, I have to say I was ecstatic when I found out Giselle was no longer in the picture” he sighed “She really did bring out the worst in you”

 

“Dad!”

 

“Sorry” he replied “I just didn’t like her and I’m just happy you’re free”

 

“Well, you have no need to worry now” she gave a soft smile “She is definitely out of the picture” he nodded “I have to ask, why are you in London?”

 

“High profile case” he let out a heavy sigh “Exaggerated injuries, phantom passengers, embellished vehicle damages and the on top of that the thousands of pounds claimed for hire charges on a replacement vehicle” he trailed off for a moment and rubbed his face with his hands “Oh and whiplash!”

 

“You have to love whiplash” she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, Angela came over at that point and gave her card back along with a Tuna sandwich and a bottle of Lemonade, after thanking her friend she looked back to the screen and saw her father scrutinising her image, so she raised a brow.

 

“You have red in your hair”

 

“Paintball”

 

“Ah” he said leaning back and clasping his hands on his lap “One would hope that the person who did it is still breathing?”

 

“For now,” Amélie replied and her father laughed.

 

“Good” he smiled “I prefer the dark blue to the purple by the way”

 

“Thanks Dad” she said as his phone chimed, her reached into his jacket and pulled it out and looked at Amélie apologetically.

 

“One of my clients is here early, I have maybe ten minutes before he kicks up a storm” as he spoke he tapped out a message “There Ruth is going to get him some refreshments, I was really hoping we would have longer sweetheart it’s been too long”

 

“Sorry Dad”

 

“No, don’t you apologise, I didn’t handle you being with Giselle well and I’ve never been the most supportive father” he smiled at her and Amélie recalled a few months ago when she called her mother and father and told her she wanted to start seeing them again. They had broken apart years prior when Amélie first came out and refused to work for the firm. Lena’s situation reminded her how lucky she was to still have both of her parents.

 

“Anyway, I assume you had a reason for calling?”

 

“I was hoping you could help me with access to Oasis for some friends”

 

“Should be simple enough since we own the place” he chuckled “How many people?”

 

“Ten to twelve, I don’t know who is coming yet or when it is yet, the event is still being set up”

 

“That’s fine, I’ll have some guest IDs made up for you to collect, just let me know a date later”

 

“Will do, Thanks Dad” he smiled “Uh-Dad…” she trailed off.

 

“I may have met somebody” she sighed recalling last time and she had to fight the urge to end the call “I think I would like… you know”

 

“For your Mother and I to meet her?”

 

“Yeah” she blushed and saw Angela cover her mouth, so she wouldn’t laugh.

 

“I’m in Gibraltar next week on business. How about then?” Amélie nodded and they said their goodbyes. Once the call was over she put her tablet away and opened her sandwich looking at Angela who looked like she had twenty questions, she knew that medical student understood French perfectly so had heard everything.

 

“So” Angela said and sipped her drink “A meet the parent’s thing?” Amélie groaned and wished she had a grappling hook so she could escape and be anywhere but here. After several awkward questions she excused herself and took the bus back to the dorms, so she could shower and freshen up.

 

Upon arrival at dorms she was surprised to see Lena lounging on the sofa with her headphones in watching something on her phone, Lena looked at her as she closed the door and smiled brightly giving her a two-finger salute, Amélie smirked and responded in kind causing Lena to giggle, which Amélie had admit was adorable.

 

Once Amélie was freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes she moved to the kitchen taking out a knife and several bowls as well as the wok. Once she was set up she moved to the fridge and retrieved various sets of vegetables which she began slicing and dicing with ease, as she was dropping some carrots into their bowl she saw that Lena had repositioned herself and was looking Amélie’s direction, her attention was focused on her phone still, but she was sure she saw Lena looking at her out of the corner of her eye when she turned her attention back to her task.

 

It didn’t take long to finish preparing the vegetables, however she did have to wash her hands and wipe her eyes after dealing with a rather troublesome onion, Lena had giggled the whole time making jokes about Amélie actually having a heart, the French girl decided at that moment the Brit spent too much time with Gabriel.

 

She set some olive oil into the wok and brought it onto the heat, she added some salt and pepper to the oil as it began to heat and went to the fridge to retrieve the pork that she had asked Gabriel to prepare earlier, normally he didn’t do the things he was tasked with, but to her surprise the meat was diced and seasoned exactly as she had asked.

 

She added the meat to the oil and it landed with a satisfying hiss. She added the onions next once the meat was partly cooked and added more vegetables as time passed. She added some more spices among them garlic, chilli and a touch of paprika.

 

As she cooked several of her dormmates had returned along with some of her friends from across the hall, it was after all the weekend and that meant group meal evening, and almost everyone always turned up when Amélie cooked, much to Gabriel’s jealousy.

 

Angela and Olivia came over immediately when they arrived and asked to taste test which was a common habit of theirs, once they had both tasted it as usual they had a disagreement over the seasoning, this time whether it needed more garlic or more chilli. As usual however Amélie ignored both of them and added and even balance of each.

 

Once she was done with the stir fry she set it aside and set about preparing a pan for the noodles now that she knew how many were coming, Amélie had no issues making more than enough stir fry as the leftovers could be frozen, however she objected to freezing noodles as they never tasted the same afterwards.

 

As she added the noodles to the boiling water she saw Gabriel enter the dorm followed by a stranger. She appraised the stranger from where she stood, it was a girl with short pink hair underneath a black beanie, her jacket was leather, and she wore torn blue jeans tucked into military style boots, Amélie tried to make out the band on her t-shirt but had never heard of them, what she did recognise however was the guest pass on the lanyard around her neck.

 

“Oh. My. God!” Lena said loudly dropping her phone onto the sofa and standing up “Amber!”

 

The girl, Amber, held her arms open and Lena ran into her embrace.

 

“Lena!” the girl said excitedly during the hug and Gabriel made his way over to Amélie.

 

Amélie was watching them as they broke apart, and she let out a soft gasp when Lena kissed Amber on the cheek with a smile. Gabriel took hold of her hands and took the spoon from her grasp and began stirring the noodles she had forgotten about.

 

“Take a minute” he whispered.

 

Amélie nodded feeling her heart beating rapidly in her chest and her mind moving a mile a minute admonishing herself for being so stupid and opening her heart up again, only for it to be ripped from her chest once more.

 

She nearly made it to her dorm room door before Lena’s voice came from behind her shyly, Amélie was also sure she could detect a hint of sadness.

 

“Amélie” Lena had said and she turned to face the brit as she continued and rubbed the back of her neck “I was hoping I could introduce you to Amber”

 

Amber held out her hand and Amélie looked at it for a moment before taking it in her own and forcing a smile.

 

“A pleasure.” Amélie said shaking it firmly.


	3. L'amour l'emporte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amélie makes a mistake. Will it have a high cost, or can she fix it before its too late?

Mere moments after shaking Ambers hand Amélie excused herself and retreated into her room, she hadn’t meant to slam the door, it just happened, she could have gone out to apologise, or even just called out the words, but she didn’t, the only thoughts in her head were of Lena, Amber and the kiss they shared, why couldn’t it have been her?

 

With a heavy sigh she pressed her back to the door as she rubbed her face with her hands all while trying not to cry. Then she felt someone try the door from the other side pushing it towards her, with Amélie stood where she was however, the attempt proved unsuccessful.

 

“Amélie unlock the door” Lena said softly from the other side, Amélie could see the girl in her minds eye, with her forehead pressed to the wood, her hand on the handle and sad eyes over freckled cheeks. She should have known Lena would follow her and more so that if the girl couldn’t open the door she would assume Amélie had locked it.

 

She pushed away from the door and quickly wiped her eyes before the tears could escape, she moved further into the room, so she was standing between the beds when the door opened behind her, the sound was followed a moment later by a soft click as Lena pushed it closed. From where she stood Amélie could see the rain as it struck and ran down the window, terrible weather, if she looked past the rain she could see a reflection of some of the room, Lena stood a few feet behind her having not come far from the door and within a distance that allowed Amélie to her fairly clearly in the window, Lena looked extremely nervous, Amélie just hoped that Lena could not see her reflection.

 

“Are you okay Amélie?” Lena asked as Amélie saw her reflection reach across her chest and take hold of her arm before rubbing her hand up towards her shoulder and back down to the elbow, a nervous habit she had seen in the brit many times in the past.

 

“I’m fine Lena” Amélie snapped in response, Lena’s reflection visibly flinched, and she looked down at her feet, arms dropping to her sides.

 

“D-did I do s-something wrong?” Lena asked with a slight stutter, the hurt in her voice made Amélie want to turn around and tell the Brit everything was fine, hearing Lena struggling to get her words out again after a long while hurt, she had made such progress and now here it was again,  Amélie had to bite her cheek to stop her train of thought, she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t lie, everything was not fine.

 

The silence clearly had an effect as she heard Lena sniffle “Just go away Lena” Amélie said softly.

 

“B-but I d-don’t underst…” Lena tried her voice shaking but Amélie cut her off.

 

“Just go!” She shouted, and Lena gasped in response followed by a sob and she watched as the reflection as Lena turned to the door, as she took the handle she looked back for a brief moment Amélie was sure she saw the tears on the girl’s cheeks but it could have been the rain, still she kept watching Lena’s reflection, but she didn’t turn around no matter how much she wanted to.

 

The door closed with a soft click, Amélie fell onto her bed, she suddenly felt awful, her actions finally sinking in and she looked at the door with a heavy heart wishing she could take them back.

 

After a couple of minutes silence, she heard the door handle again, hoping it was Lena she sat up, her hopes were dashed as it swung open followed by Gabriel stalking in. She placed her legs over the side of her bed positioning her hands on her knees as he kicked the door closed with his heel, just before it slammed she heard some music start to play outside the room.

 

“What the fuck did you do?” Gabriel shouted.

 

“I don’t know what you mean” Amélie snapped back at him in defiance, as if ignoring what she had done would make it go away, she realised then that she did not care if he saw her tears but held them back anyway.

 

“Bullshit” he yelled back “Lena is out there right now crying her heart out, thinking she did something wrong”

 

Amélie now knew she had seen tears but the thought of how Lena might actually feel at her outburst had never crossed her mind, Amélie had felt betrayed the moment she saw the kiss, she was angry, but why? She hadn’t claimed Lena or even told her of her interest, and now that she knew Lena was not only crying but blaming herself when it wasn’t her fault, she let her own tears fall.

 

“I shouted at her” Amélie admitted “I demanded she leave”

 

“Why?” Gabriel shouted sounding exasperated “What the hell possessed you to do that?”

 

“I don’t know” Amélie screeched as she stood and pointed at the door “Perhaps kissing the girlfriend that she neglected to tell me about!”

 

“Girlfriend?” Gabriel repeated somewhat taken aback.

 

“Bloody Amber!”

 

“You have no idea who she is do you?”

 

“I think its pretty obvious at this point!”

 

“Maybe it would be if you thought about it”

 

“Explain” Amélie demanded folding her arms.

 

“She’s her fucking sister!” Gabriel shouted “Maybe if you took a moment like I told you too, you would have realised it”

 

Amélie felt the colour drain from her face and collapsed onto her bed with her head in her hands. Lena didn’t often mention her foster family, but she had told her about them in the past especially of her three sisters. Quinn the eldest along with the twins Piper and… Amber.

 

“I fucked up” she said quietly as she wiped her hands across her face with a sigh.

 

“You think?” Gabriel asked but it sounded more like a statement than a question “Shouting at Lena of all people?”

 

“I know” she snapped more in annoyance at herself than anger “I know” she repeated in a softer tone “I wish I could take it back”

 

“Why did you do it?” she asked matching her tone, his anger seeming to have faded as he took as seat opposite her on the edge of Lena’s bed.

 

Now that was the hardest part of this whole situation to figure out. Why had she done it, why shout at her best friend and demand that she leaves her own room, practically casting her aside when the only thing Lena had been guilty of was the genuine concern for her best friend. The more Amélie thought about it the clearer the reason became, she had said it to herself on many occasions but had never said it aloud, not to anybody. She didn’t know how to approach it or if she was even ready, her and Lena both. Three words that could change the foundation of their relationship forever, for better or worse. She felt the tears on her cheeks now, a warmth she had been ignoring.

 

“I love her” she mumbled softly unsure if Gabriel even heard her. She felt his hand on her knee as he reached over to comfort her, she looked up at met his eyes.

 

“Then maybe you should tell her” he said softly. In the silence that followed Amélie realised that the music outside had stopped.

 

*****

 

They all heard the shouting. It would have been hard not to. Angela didn’t even want to believe that it was actually happening, she couldn’t understand why it would be. When she looked around the room everyone was stunned into silence. Amber seemed to be fighting the urge to go into the room.

 

When the door opened, and Lena came out reality reasserted itself, it had actually happened, and Angela found herself on her feet and heading straight for the brit. Lena pushed past Amber as the girl reached out to her, Angela stopped where she was making no further effort to approach,

Lena glanced at her as she passed. Lena pulled a chair out from the table and fell into promptly folding her arms upon the wooden surface and letting her head fall upon them.

 

Angela had seen the tears in Lena’s eyes and the ones that were rolling down her cheeks as she had taken a seat. She knew this was probably a rather large blow to Lena’s recovery. Amber sat down to Lena’s left and began rubbing her back in a reassuring manner. Angela could hear the soft sobs and sniffles coming from the brit, she glanced back at Amélie’s door, what the hell had she been thinking.

 

Eventually Lena sat up again but she didn’t stop there, she shrugged Ambers hand from her shoulder when the pink haired girl put it there, Lena walked to the coat rack and grabbed her blue hoodie pulling it on as she mumbled “I’m going for walk” it was hard to hear over the music which caused Lucio to turn it off, Angela was thankful that the shouting in the other room seemed to have stopped, either that or they had killed each other.

 

Lena crouched down and grabbed one of her bags, it took Angela a moment to see which one it was. A battered messenger bag that had seen better days and was covered in various colours of dried paint, she knew that it contained all Lena’s art supplies which allowed Angela to predict where Lena would be going.

 

Angela turned and approached the sofa letting herself fall onto the vacant seat next to Fareeha while Amber moved to the kitchen area and leant against the counter with her arms crossed. Everyone’s eyes fell onto Amélie’s door and the silence that followed was uncomfortable.

 

After around five minutes it opened, Gabriel was the first out and he looked fatigued, clearly having to _talk_ some sense into one of his best friends had taken its toll, but that didn’t prepare Angela for the sight of Amélie. The French girl looked frankly terrible, she had been crying, her eyeliner had run down her cheeks, even her lipstick had smeared. She watched as Amélie approached the kitchen sink, if she noticed everyone’s eyes on her she didn’t react.

 

Amélie started the tap and promptly cleared the makeup from her face as best she could without a mirror, Angela watched as she grabbed the small dish towel from the where it hung over the oven handle and began wiped her face dry.

 

The moment Amélie was finished Amber squared up to her which was an achievement since the French girl was a few inches taller, but Amber didn’t let that sway her and she looked straight into Amélie’s eyes defiantly.

 

“What the hell were you doing?” Amber demanded, “What the actual fuck did you think would happen?” Amber pushed Amélie backwards and she staggered but to Angela’s surprise the French girl let the her do it giving no reaction to the gesture, as if it didn’t even happen.

 

“I had a momentary lapse in judgement” Amélie replied calmly but Angela could see the emotion in her eyes, Amélie was hurting “One that I intend to rectify” there was a bit more emotion when she spoke again, but she was still guarded.

 

“A momentary lapse?” Amber scoffed, “Bull. Shit.” She said slowly emphasising each word “You’re no better that the rest of them”

 

“Rest of who?” Amélie asked with a raised brow and narrowed eyes, Angela could see the anger beginning to manifest in her gaze.

 

“The ones who give her hope before they bully her into submission” Amélie’s brow furrowed and now there was rage in her eyes, Angela took an involuntary step back “Before they cast her aside like yesterday’s newspaper.” Amber tilted her head to the side before she went to push Amélie again, but the girl caught her hands and held them in place.

 

“Don’t. You. Dare! Compare me to them” The worst thing about Amélie Guillard was that when she was truly angry, she didn’t shout, she didn’t threaten, she was harsh yes, but she was also eerily calm, to the point Angela felt a shiver down her spine. “I care about Lena” Amélie paused just a moment “More than you know. I have done something terrible, I admit that freely. But I also intend to find her and make this right.” Amélie let go of Ambers wrists “I will not allow you to goad me into hurting you, as should I hurt you I would hurt Lena. I intend to never do that again, not to the girl I love.”

 

Angela watched as realisation dawned on Amélie’s face when her mind caught up with her mouth.

 

“Love?” Amber laughed harshly “Funny way of showing it don’t you think?” Silence followed and Amélie’s anger became more apparent. Angela worried that Amélie might strike the Brit.

 

“Stand. Aside” Amélie seethes, emphasising each word with as much hatred as she could muster, Amber moved and Amélie glanced around the room as she walked past the pink haired girl. Angela shivered under her gaze but watched the anger evaporate as Amélie approached the door.

 

“Amé” Gabriel called as she pulled open the door “Your coat? It’s raining”

 

“I don’t need it” Amélie called back in response and Angela had to fight the urge to call out demand she takes a coat to keep warm. There was silence for a few minutes, Angela it seemed was not the only one who expected Amélie to return.

 

“Well that went well” Amber said cheerfully, everyone turned to look at her, Angela herself in confusion but Olivia looked angry “What?” The Brit asked “Its not like she was going to just say it herself without a little nudge”

 

Gabriel suddenly laughed “Oh I like you!”

 

*****

 

Once she made her way outside the dorms she regretted not bringing a coat and although she could easily go back and pick one up she refused and ran on as the rain soaked her through and spread a cold yet unseen sheen across her skin causing her to shiver, but as she moved she warmed up.

 

She powered through the park outside the dorms past the bench Lena had dubbed her ‘Lazy Seat’ during some of their morning jogs when Amélie ran out of energy and the brit continued on for a few more laps before they headed back. The memory hurt given what she had done not so long ago, she pushed on and could just make out Kings Row in the distance.

 

She was breathing deeply when she arrived and reached out for lamppost leaning against it to catch her breath, she glanced around the Row and could see there were not many people, in theory that would make her search easier, but Amélie doubted it.

 

Once she had sufficient air in her lungs she pressed on towards her first destination. When she walked into Brewed Awakening she wasn’t surprised to find very few customers, all of which had been served, so she wasn’t surprised when she saw Jesse relaxing for the last minutes of his shift by leaning against the refrigerator messing around with his phone, when she neared she saw the device was casting white light on his chin and Amélie half expected him to start telling a scary story.

 

“McCree” Amélie said to which the American sighed.

 

“What did I do?” Amelie raised a brow momentarily in confusion “Oh, not here for me then?”

 

“Have you seen Lena?” Amélie hated the way she sounded desperate but deep down she didn’t care.

 

“She was here about fifteen minutes ago” Jesse replied looking back down at his phone again “She hopped the counter and made herself a drink, she didn’t say a word not even to pay, she just logged into the spare register” he gestured to the machine which was now switched off.

 

“Did you at least see where she went?” she asked painstakingly aware of the desperation in her voice.

 

“She went in the direction of the pool” Amélie spun on her heels and moved towards the door as she opened it Jesse called out from behind her “Good Luck” she glanced back just a moment as he brought his phone to his ear and greeted Angela, at which point she left.

 

Upon arrival at the pool it was no surprising to find is deserted given the weather, a few people walked around the area on there way around campus, several of them glancing at Amélie as if she were mad. Given the fact the rain was still going strong and the wind had picked up in the last few minutes freezing her to the bone she was sure she looked it with her clothing soaked through and clinging to her skin, her hair plastered to her scalp, she sighed she must look a mess. She had to admit she definitely felt mad.

 

More than that though she felt angry, angry at herself, her main concern however, finding Lena, was proving difficult that in itself was maddening, she wiped her eyes as she felt the warmth running down her cheeks, a pointless act given the rain and despite her feelings she laughed as she recalled weeks prior when she and Lena had been sat on the brits bed watching Bladerunner on her laptop.

 

She could hear the monologue of the replicant in her head. “All those moments will be lost, like… tears in the rain” for the briefest of moments those words rang true, but she quickly cast them aside, she couldn’t let herself lose Lena.

 

She glanced around with a newfound determination coursing through her, she owed Lena an apology at the least and a confession at the most, and she would be dammed is she would let anything stop her.

 

That was when she saw the golden sign, usually it was the one of the banes of her existence but this time it was a beacon, it was hope, it was the realisation of where her best friend was hiding.

 

She ran to the building pulling her ID from her pocket as she went, stopping for just a moment to swipe the card on the reader and with a chime the door unlocked, she grabbed the handle and pushed it open sparing the sign above her a single glance, as if thanking it.

 

‘Guillard Centre for the Arts’

 

Once inside the difficult task began, the building was huge and she felt as though she could be here for hours, she checked every room she passed but it was to no avail, there was no sign of Lena on the ground floor, she had only seen other students dedicating overtime to their projects and couldn’t help but wonder if she should make the same effort with hers, but that was a thought for another time.

 

She took the stairs up a floor and was greeted with the lockers for the students who tended to work on this floor, she realised now that it was highly unlikely that Lena would have been on the ground floor, she cursed herself softly as her eyes sought out the girl’s locker. She knew that Lena kept most of her art supplies in there and stuck to the door inside was a picture of her with her parents.

 

Amélie sighed, Lena wasn’t at her locker, if she was honest with herself Amélie hadn’t expected her to be, she walked over to it and pressed her hand to the door, it looked just like all the others, she glanced at hers a few doors down, the only difference was the name tag each locker held. Lowering her hands, she looked down at them and let her head fall forward striking the locker with a dull thud, she even repeated the gesture a few times, once again she was asking herself how she could be so stupid.

 

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” she suddenly looked up, she would know that voice anywhere. When she met her ex girlfriends’ eyes she saw that Giselle was staring at her and that she was holding some sketchbooks in her arms. “Why on earth are you soaking wet, ever heard of an umbrella?”

 

“I was looking for Lena”

 

“By hitting your head on her locker?” Giselle deadpanned “She is small but ever your lapdog couldn’t fit in there?”

 

“Her name is Lena” Amélie growled “Have you seen her or not?”

 

“She’s upstairs in one of the studios” Giselle said with a roll of her eyes “Don’t say I never do anything for you” with that she opened her locker and began putting her books away. Amélie mumbled a thanks and moved past her heading straight for the stairs and making her way up.

 

As before she checked every room she passed but made no progress, all the rooms on this floor appeared to be empty. She was about to give it up with the assumption that Giselle had been lying to her, she started making her way to the nearest stairwell, as she neared them she heard a continuous hissing sound, which she began following to its source.

 

Once inside the room she was greeted with a soft clatter and then silence before this hissing sound resumed, ahead of her was a large canvas attached to a wooden frame, a hooded figure was crouched in the corner at the lower left of the canvas seemingly working on something they were also the source of the hissing noise.

 

The contents of the canvas defied description, when she looked upon it she saw a beautiful art style and what was depicted on it was a mural. She could make out the faces of her friends, Angela and Olivia were easy to identify as they seemed to be the only two who were complete. The others had aspects of their appearance missing and most had no faces, the centre of the piece was the hardest to figure out but judging by the clothes they wore it appeared to be her and Lena.

 

After a few moments the artist turned around and opened her art bag, she hadn’t seen Amélie, upon grabbing a new can of paint the artist turned and once again continued their work. She had no doubts who the artist was. She watched as Lena worked delicately adding to her canvas. Her leggings and converse were covered in fresh paint, along with the sleeves of her hoodie.

 

“Lena?” Amélie said softly and Lena froze dropping her paint can.

 

Slowly Lena rose and turned around to face her. Lena’s face was hidden behind a mask of sorts that seemed to be some form of breathing apparatus covering her mouth and nose, no doubt to block the fumes from the paint, she also had goggles to protect her eyes.

 

The brit pulled her hood down and took off her mask, a moment later she dropped it on the floor and ruffled her hair with her hands. Lena seemed to be letting her hair grow out, it was currently the longest Amélie had had ever seen it. Outside of the short bob hairstyle that she was used to seeing on Lena she could also recall the picture of Lena and her parents in the girl’s locker where she had short unwieldy spiked hair.

 

“Hi” Lena whispered looking down at the floor seemingly interested in her shoes.

 

“I’m sorry” Amélie said, she hated apologising so it surprised her how fast the words left her lips and how sincere she sounded at that moment “You did nothing wrong” she continued “It was my own stupidity, I shouldn’t have taken my feelings out on you” Amélie was looking down at this point as an uncomfortable silence settled around them.

 

She risked a glance up at Lena and saw the girl was still looking at her shoes and appeared to be worrying her bottom lip.

 

“I forgive you” Lena said eventually “But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt” the tone of her voice conveyed as much, and the words weren’t really needed, but Amélie appreciated her honesty.

 

“I know” Amélie replied rubbing her arm much like Lena did when she was nervous, she sighed “There is something I should tell you” she looked at Lena, the girl still looked hurt but there was confusion in her expression now.

 

“Well perhaps I should explain first” she said softly “First I need to apologise again as I forgot who Amber was, which led to me assuming that she was your girlfriend”

 

“My girlfriend?” Lena replied and Amélie watched as her lip quivered while she struggled with her next words “Not since Em’s”

 

“I know, and I feel terrible” Amélie admitted “It was Gabriel who made me realise I was wrong. He… _talked_ some sense into me” despite the mood in the room Lena gave a soft chuckle, Amélie gave her a soft smile before looking back down “It wasn’t all we talked about and I need to tell you something” she trailed off for a moment “Something important” she glanced at Lena and saw confusion etched on her face with tears on her cheeks. She was vulnerable.

 

“Lena, you are my best friend” Amélie said “I would never want to hurt you, you may have forgiven me, but I won’t forgive myself yet” Lena nodded looking like she didn’t know how to respond.

 

“You matter a great deal to me” she continued “I…” she trailed off.

 

“You?” Lena prompted softly and Amélie realised she had been silent for some time.

 

“I…” she tried again but the words were lost before they left her lips she looked up and met Lena’s eyes, hearing her own voice in her head ‘I love you’ but she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud. “I don’t want to lose our friendship, its important to me” she gave a soft smile to reassure Lena when she noticed the girl stiffen “Very much so, if I say this, everything changes forever”

 

Amélie looked down at the floor and noticed Lena’s battered converse. She knew the brit had several identical pairs of various colours, the ones she wore today were blue, and now after working on her project they were covered in paint. There was silence for a time which was eventually broken by Lena who’s voice quivered as she spoke.

 

“I want to know, please”

 

Amélie met her gaze. She opened her mouth slightly but closed it again. She took in a breath through her nose and released it looking down for a moment, she licked her lips and glanced back at Lena, she then changed their entire relationship with three words.

 

“I love you” The moment the words left Amélie’s lips Lena’s face fell pale and her eyes widened as the meaning behind the words sunk in, there was silence for a few minutes and Amélie watched as Lena’s brow furrowed, Amélie was beginning to feel uneasy.

 

“Lena, say something” she got no response “Please?”

 

The girl’s reaction was sudden, and it took Amélie off guard, as she was taken by surprise she nearly recoiled but managed to stop herself. When she looked down she found Lena’s arms around her waist and the girls head buried into her chest not seeming to care that she was soaking wet. Of all the ways she expected this conversation to go she hadn’t been expecting this. She placed her own arms around Lena and held her close.

 

When they broke apart they met each other’s eyes and Lena tried to speak but her words came out as soft noises or the beginning of unfinished sentences, Amélie had to admit that the Lena looked adorable as she tried to figure out what to say.

 

Amélie smiled and placed a finger on Lena’s lips when she tried to speak again. Causing Lena to meet her eyes. “Take your time, _Chérie_ ” she removed the finger and Lena’s eyes remained focused on her. The girl’s lips moved a few more times and but as before she still failed to form a sentence, she bit her lip and looked at her as she tilted her head to the side and settled on a single word.

 

“Happy” Amélie’s heart pounded in her chest and she nearly cried out in joy, she composed herself however and reached out placing her hand on Lena’s cheek and ran her thumb across it just below her eye. It was finally in the open and although the brit had yet to say it aloud she knew Lena felt the same way.

 

In the minutes that followed Lena had pulled away from the embrace, somewhat reluctantly for both parties involved and had begun cleaning up and collecting her supplies. Amélie watched her as she packed up her equipment and returned items that weren’t hers back to where they belonged, every now and again Lena would look in her direction and blush before quickly looking away when Amélie met her gaze.

 

After a few occurrences Lena appeared to realise something was missing and after what seemed like a few moments pondering she ventured over to her art bag and pulled something from the front pocket, it did not take Amélie long to realise it was her glasses case. She watched as Lena removed what appeared to be contact lenses and place them into a small container she had had in her pocket before putting her glasses on. Once again when she turned around and looked at Amélie she diverted her gaze with a blush.

 

“You are so adorable” Amélie smiled when Lena’s blush intensified, and she reached up to rub the back of her neck nervously.

 

After Lena recovered she moved the canvas frame into an empty alcove at the back of the room. The alcove, upon inspection, held Lena’s name on a tag marking it as hers. There were other names on the other alcoves but Amélie didn’t really pay those any attention, her eyes were on Lena again as the girl wandered past her and picked up the mask she had discarded earlier.

 

Once the mask was secured again on the corresponding hook, the girl picked up her bag, secured it over her shoulder and approached Amélie. However, her attention for the moment was on the contents of her bag as she was looking for something, Amélie was about to remind her that she was wearing her glasses as on more than one occasion Lena had forgotten she was wearing them and spent a while trying to find them, but there was no need as Lena brandished the object of her search with a small triumphant cheer.

 

It was an umbrella, which Amélie had gratefully taken for the journey back to the dorms. The journey itself was uneventful, they walked hand in hand through the rain sharing the umbrellas protection taking their time as they went. After all it was only water and Amélie took showers in it everyday.

 

Once they arrived back at the dorm it was deserted. There weren’t many indications as to where people were but Amélie had her own ideas, she knew that Angela was working the late shift in the café this evening as Jesse was meeting a tutor for private study, the fact Hanzo was said tutor left Amélie with some vague ideas as to what _private study_ actually meant, not that she thought about them in any detail.

 

Amber had sent Lena some text messages it seemed as Lena offhandedly mentioned that she had returned to her hotel and would be around in the morning after the brit checked her phone, given the music coming from Gabriel and Lucio’s room it was safe to say Gabriel was out and Lucio was taking the opportunity to work on his portfolio.

 

Amélie moved to the bathroom to take a quick shower to freshen up while Lena worked on reheating a portion of the stir fry for each of them and preparing fresh noodles, once Amélie was finished in the shower she dressed in her bed clothes and took over in the kitchen, so Lena could take a shower of her own. As she checked the noodles she noticed that Lena had taken out several DVDs and placed them on the counter nearby next to a covered bowl, she lifted the cover and saw popcorn which caused her to smirk as she turned her attention to the movie choices.

 

Once Lena was finished in the shower and dressed in her usual bed clothes they sat at the table and ate their meal having various small conversations, Amélie took the opportunity to apologise again but the brit only smiled and assured her that she was happy. Once they were finished and everything was cleared away they settled down in the lounge area with the lights out, the popcorn was on the coffee table, Lena was snuggled into Amélie’s embrace. Lena had picked out several comedy films and the first on the list was ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’.

 

During the course of the movie Olivia had returned but she was too engrossed in her phone and simply gave a quick “ _Hola_ ” before disappearing into her room. Part way through the second film ‘Bruce Almighty’ the popcorn migrated to Lena’s lap while her head was resting on Amélie’s. With one hand the French girl ran her fingers through Lena’s hair and with the other she ate popcorn occasionally feeding some to Lena which caused them both to giggle.

 

Nearing the end of the second film they were interrupted by a soft tapping sound and it took them a moment to place it. They realised after they heard the sound a few more times that it was coming from the dorm door, somebody was knocking very lightly. Amélie shared a look with Lena and the Brit pushed herself up and moved to the door as Amélie stretched her muscles now that Lena had moved, not that she was complaining, she also couldn’t stop herself watching Lena’s as she walked to the door.

 

Once the door was open Lena appeared to invite somebody inside as Amélie picked up their empty glasses and the popcorn bowl that they had forgotten about, which was now on the floor having fallen there when Lena stood up, thankfully it was empty.

 

Hana and Fareeha entered followed by a topless Hanzo, which proved Amélie further theory if she thought about it, not that she did it was imagery she didn’t need in her head. Amélie placed the items in the kitchen sink and glanced at the display on the oven noting it was just after midnight.

 

“What’s wrong?” She heard Lena ask softly as she approached the small group from the kitchen.

 

Hana didn’t answer, instead she simply opened the door which Fareeha took hold of without being prompted so that it remained open, Amélie at this point was stood next to Lena and she watched along with everyone as Hana took hold of the handle of the door leading to the dorm across the hall.

 

She pushed it open slowly, and the sounds reached them almost instantaneously. Upon glancing at Lena, the Brit was blushing profusely, Amélie herself restrained her laughter and instead nodded to Hana so she would close the door and remove the sounds intruding upon their ears.

 

 “Gabriel and Jack?” She asked as Hana returned, Lena appeared to be regaining her composure and Fareeha let the door close.

 

“ _Oh_ no” Hana said emphasising the first word, she smirked “And Genji” Hanzo facepalmed.

 

“Oh” Amélie said in shock “That I didn’t expect to actually happen” she glanced at Lena and she was pretty sure that if her cheeks darkened anymore they could use her to stop traffic.

 

“Yeah…” Fareeha responded trailing of for a moment

 

“Where’s Jesse?” Lena asked having recovered a little.

 

“In bed. He could sleep through anything…” Hanzo said and Amélie raised her brow, he met her gaze giving a slight nod but elaborating no further, leaving Amélie all the confirmation she needed about the _tutoring session._

 

“Could we stay here?” Hanzo asked.

 

“I guess” Amélie replied as Lena excused herself and disappeared into their room “You could use Gabe’s bed since I’m guessing he won’t be back tonight”

 

“I’ll bunk with Angela” Fareeha said “We’ve shared a bed before” Hana gave a low wolf whistle and Fareeha ignored her and walked into Angela and Olivia’s room, Amélie however did see the slight blush on her cheeks and realised given the time that Angela most likely sneaked back in some time ago.

 

“I guess that means you have the sofa Hana”

 

Hana nodded as Amélie began cleaning up the remaining items from her and Lena’s impromptu movie night. Once she had finished she went to the storage cupboard near the door and brought out a couple of their spare blankets for Hana as she began settling down.

 

“Thanks, Amé” Hana said to which Amélie nodded before turning to the door of her room when the Korean girl called her name, she turned back around and saw the girl peaking over the top of the sofa. “You and Lena?”

 

Amélie just smiled and said “ _Bonne Nuit_ , Hana”

 

“Well damn” She heard Hana say along with the soft rustling sound of her lying down again as she closed her door behind her.

 

Lena was already in bed so Amélie made her way to her own as quietly as she could in case Lena was asleep. As she got comfortable she adjusted her position, moved the covers so they were under her chin and placed an arm under her pillow, this way she could lay on her side. She cast her gaze over towards Lena and could she the girls face a little thanks to the light shining through the window. She smiled when Lena’s eyes opened, Lena smiled back.

 

“Amé” Lena said softly “I never said it back” She smiled again and Amélie swore she was blushing, but she covered her face for a moment with her covers and when she peaked back out they locked eyes “I love you too”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, it was a battle to get it the way I wanted it. I just really hope it was worth the wait.
> 
> As always thanks to all of you who have left Kudos and commented. :)


	4. Je T'aime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amélie finds herself in a place she never expected, but in the end it was worth it.
> 
>  
> 
> Note: This chapter references Chapter 3 of GU - Chatroom, you don't need to have read it as it becomes clear what occurred throughout the chapter.

“How did it make you feel?” he asked softly “When you sent those messages?”

 

Amélie honestly wasn’t sure how to answer that question, she still possessed mixed feelings about it. If she were being honest with herself, she openly admitted she wouldn't even be here if Angela hadn't dragged her.

 

Well dragged is a harsh way of saying it, pushed her into coming perhaps? after a moment’s thought Amélie finally settled on manipulated, she had definitely been manipulated if she were sat on this sofa, in this office, across from the University Counsellor. She then remembered she had a question to answer.

 

“Great at first" Amélie replied, she did not want to elaborate so she left the rest of her response open “But eventually…”

 

“What changed?” The counsellor asked when she fell silent, he looked down to make a quick note on his tablet before meeting her eyes again, it was then she chose to speak, wondering what he was writing.

 

“I guess I just felt bad" she sighed, she should have known he would press her for more, it was his job after all, but that did not mean she had an answer.

 

“I felt like her” Amélie groaned audibly as she thought of one of the times Giselle treat her the same way, this prompted a raised brow from the counsellor “It scared me, I mean I was happy when Gabriel joked about beating her up, but he always jokes like that” she could remember smiling when she read his response, and then she recalled later that afternoon, “But when Lena returned... that's when it hit me”

 

“When what hit you?”

 

“It felt like I didn’t deserve her, she gave me a hug and I just felt empty, like I shouldn't have her affection" Amélie looked at her feet and rubbed the back of her neck “It sounds shallow when I put it like that” She paused for a moment and folded her arms.

 

“I felt terrible, Lena came to cheer me up, but I was the one in the wrong.” She looked up and met his soft blue eyes “I regret it of course, but at the same time I don’t, but guess I should" she bit her lip before she looked away, the poster on the wall about meditation suddenly drawing her attention, she couldn’t look him in the eyes.

 

“We all do things we regret Amélie, what matters is how we handle it, how we respond" she looked back at him when he paused, the counsellor smiled softly and continued “Your anger was justified, but you reacted poorly, later however you realised you had done something wrong and that made you sad, and rightly so”

 

“Okay" she sighed again and sunk into her seat, she stretched her legs out and crossed one over the other at the ankle.

 

“You have a good heart Amélie”

 

“I guess” she replied “But what use is that when I am still capable of being such a bitch” he frowned at her choice of wording and she mumbled a soft “ _Pardon_ ”

 

He nodded in thanks before he spoke. “The answer is simple; you can choose to not act like that”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You are your own worst enemy” he replied while making more notes, he looked at her as he continued  “I've seen you with Lena, she brings out the best in you, and you in her" the Counsellor smiled again and made a few notes on his tablet before he placed it on his desk. “I think we can end the session here, from what you have told me you have much to contemplate, unless you have questions"

 

“ _Non_ ”

 

“Okay, then I hope we can speak again”

 

Amélie nodded but didn't give an answer. She stood and began making her way out of the room, as she opened the door and just before she walked out, she turned back “Thank you".

 

“Amélie, if Giselle tries to provoke you or Lena again, remember that adversity, no matter how slight, is an opportunity for change.”

 

She frowned as she walked back into the corridor and shut the door behind, leaning back against it she sighed as she pressed her head against the wood, beneath her hair she could feel the cold sensation of the metal nameplate, she could not see it but she knew what it said, practically everyone on campus did.

 

‘ _Dr T Zenyatta – University Counsellor’_

 

She released a breath she didn’t realise she was holding, her mind clouded as she tried to understand what he could have meant by that last comment, but she just drew blank.

 

Realising she had been there for a couple of minutes, she pushed off the door, drawing her fingers across the exposed bricks in the wall as she moved towards the corridor. She blinked through the suns glare as she made her way outside.

 

After leaving the building and looking around it took her a moment to realise where Angela was waiting for her, the blonde laid sprawled on a bench looking towards the sky, as Amélie moved closer she noticed Angela was actually using her phone, from her position and the way her friend used the device she was seemingly playing a game, it also looked as of she had her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration.

 

Amélie slowed her pace as she drew close realising this was a perfect opportunity for mischief. With a sly grin to herself she moved out of Angela’s peripheral vision before she was close enough to be spotted. Now approaching from the side of the bench, so she was walking towards Angela's head, she found her steps getting lighter as she moved closer, she even held her breath, Angela was hard to sneak up on at the best of times, after a few moments she was so close to victory and Amélie was excited at the prospect of making her friend jump, however it seemed fate had other plans, just as she taking those final steps someone called their names.

 

“Amé and Angie!” Gérard cheered happily “Two of my favourite ladies” Amélie glanced over with a glare and noticed his shit-eating grin, she knew instantly that he had done it on purpose when he saw what she was trying to do.

 

Angela at the sound of her name had leaned forward so she was sat up, having to squint through the sun now that her phone was no longer covering her eyes. She followed Gérard’s gaze, looked around and spotted Amélie, she frowned for just a moment before she realised what the French girl had tried to do, she smirked and let out a soft chuckle. “Nice try” she said softly, just loud enough for Amélie to hear, as she tucked her phone into her jacket pocket and stood, she stretched gracefully with a happy sigh and smiled at her friends.

 

“What are you two doing up here?” Gérard asked.

 

“Nothing much” Amélie replied, Angela smiled at her but didn’t elaborate for which she was thankful, the fewer people who knew about her visit to the counsellor the better.

 

“Café?” Gérard asked with a grin, looking pointedly at Amélie.

 

Amélie blushed at the implication and cursed herself when her mind conjured images of Lena in her barista uniform, she had no idea why it affected her so much as she had never been interested in uniforms before, mind you, it did make Lena look cute. She frowned at the thought sending a glare Gérard’s way.

 

“That’s a yes!” he said with a laugh “Coming Angie?”

 

“Sure, Olivia, Gabe and Jack are there anyway”

 

“Oh why?” Amélie asked as they began walking to Kings Row.

 

“Studying session” Angela replied “They invited me, but I had plans this morning and I’m covering part of the afternoon shift”

 

It didn’t take them long to reach Brewed Awakening, however all the outdoor tables were taken much to Amélie’s annoyance, it was too nice a day to be sat inside. So, when they entered, she was in a slightly fowl mood, they spotted their friends almost immediately, it was rather quiet with only a few of the tables inside occupied, plus Amber’s pink hair was a dead giveaway, shining like a beacon under the overhead lights.

 

Amélie’s attention however was focused on the counter, or more so Lena. Her friend, or was it girlfriend now? She didn’t know at this point, had her back to the door and appeared to be busy with the coffee machine, she had no customers queuing and judging by the supplies behind her on the counter itself she was taking the opportunity to clean the machine.

 

It was only when Angela appeared at her side with a chuckle that Amélie realised she had been lost in her own thoughts, so much so that she hadn’t even noticed Gérard approach the counter, or the fact Lena had was now holding what appeared to be a empty bag of coffee, it seemed she was done with the cleaning and had been refilling the equipment.

 

“Lena!” Gabriel called across the café from the table startling Amélie slightly “Can we get a top-up?”

 

Lena looked over and grinned “Sure thing!” she called back “Give me a few minutes and I'll put them on the tab!” Amélie followed Angela's lead as she approached the counter and laughed at her frown as they neared.

 

“Lazy” Angela mumbled “They better not try that with me" Amélie glanced at her friend with a grin and Angela frowned again “Don't even think about it"

 

“I have no idea what you are talking about” Amélie said softly with a smirk when they reached the counter. As Gérard was about to make a comment on their arrival Lena reappeared from the employee's area, due to the lack of cleaning products Amélie assumed that the brit had just put them all away.

 

“Okay love” Lena said as she wiped her hands on her apron “What can I get you?” she gave a smile over his shoulder which Amélie returned.

 

“Latte Macchiato” Gérard said “On my tab if you will”

 

“Nope” Lena replied “No money, no coffee, Bosses orders”

 

“Gabriel and the others have a tab" he tried but Lena just smiled.

 

“Which they pay after each visit"

 

Gérard sighed as he pulled his wallet from his pocket. After a moment he pulled a note free and slid it across the counter, which Lena picked up with a grin "Three euro for the coffee, the other seven comes off the tab"

 

"What? Hey!" he protested.

 

"Your fault, you let the tab get so high" Lena stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention to Amélie and Angela "Usual’s?" Amélie nodded. "Cool, join the gang and I’ll bring them over"

 

"I want my change Oxton" Gérard said.

 

"Pay your tab mister" Lena said grinning again “Then you can start getting change”

 

" _Merde_ " he mumbled as they all walked towards Gabriel’s table.

 

Unfortunately, when they returned to the table there was an uninvited guest waiting for them and the table itself had fallen silent with nobody even looking at each other, Amélie tried to walk away but she was grabbed by Angela and guided to the far side of the table away from Giselle and rather unceremoniously pushed into a seat.

 

“Why are you here?” Amélie asked almost immediately.

 

“I want to you to give us a second chance” Giselle replied reaching across the table to take her hand, but Amélie pulled her hand away “Please Amélie” Giselle all but begged her. There was an uneasy silence again, which was eventually broken.

 

“Look, just fuck off" Gabriel snapped. Amélie noticed Lena coming over with their drinks and really wanted Giselle to leave.

 

“Not until she gives me another chance"

 

“Look _chica_ , we all know that's not going to happen” Olivia said with a roll of her eyes.

 

“I know and I don't even know _you_ " Amber said with a hum and a cheeky smirk when she saw Lena.

 

“Oh, look the lapdog that replaced me!” Giselle spoke softly, just enough for everyone sat at the table to hear the hate in her voice.

 

Angela thanked Lena for the drink the brit placed in front of her and turned her attention to their unwanted guest. “You brought it upon yourself"

 

“No one asked your opinion Ziegler"

 

Amélie was about to say something when she noticed Lena’s face as she gave Olivia her drink, the girl was clearly thinking about something as she was worrying her bottom lip, Amélie suddenly knew what Zenyatta had meant earlier. _‘Do it Lena’_ she thought and looked down to hide her smile when the brit started talking.

 

“You look nice today Giselle, but you shouldn’t have bothered with the makeup" Lena said in a friendly tone as she continued passing out drinks, Amélie’s eyebrows shot into her hairline that was not what she was expecting, the others had equally baffled expressions.

 

“You’re saying I'm pretty?” Giselle asked smugly her grin taking on a smile much like that of the Cheshire cat.

 

“Not really, no" Lena replied in the same tone from before just as she gave Amélie her cup. Giselle’s smile faltered. “I just don’t think you should have bothered” Lena paused and glanced at Giselle showing very little interest.

 

“Why?”

 

“Oh, that’s simple, as the saying goes ‘you don't put lipstick on a pig’” with that Lena began to walk away as the group was left dumfounded, except for Giselle who was angry.

 

“Don't leave this table bitch, you aren't finished here!” Giselle shouted. Lena to her credit turned on her heels and walked back.

 

“Yes, I did forget something" Lena leaned towards Amélie and gave her a peck on the cheek and turned to leave.

 

“I could give you so much more Amélie, better than that _lost puppy_ , fleeing the table with her tail between he legs after spouting a couple of petty insults"

 

Amber glared at Giselle as if she were ready to dive across the table, Gabriel and Olivia also looked like they wanted to murder her themselves. But Amélie’s eyes moved to Lena, she had stopped and was slowly turning to face them again.

 

“I would rather be a puppy. Than a bitch in heat" Lena let the comment hang for a moment and continued before Giselle could reply making an effort to speak slowly and clearly “Let’s face facts, you're just jealous, that was a nice sweet little kiss, better than anything you can manage. It’s hardly my fault if you kiss like a bulldog licking a lemon"

 

Giselle paled and not a moment later several people around room started laughing, Giselle’s outburst it seemed had caught more than just their tables attention and Lena had monopolised on that.

 

“She’s fucking done you!” Amber said through laughter “Bloody savage, just like old times!” she laughed again along with the others, Angela was the first to stop laughing and glanced at Amber as if she had just realised something but said nothing and picked up her drink with a soft smile as Giselle pushed her chair away from the table, the group along with half the café watched as she made her walk of shame.

 

About an hour after Giselle had left Lena had finished her shift and was currently getting changed in the staff area, while Amélie waited outside the café with Amber. It was only the two of them left and Amélie found herself thinking about what would happen this evening, while Amber was typing away on her phone, suddenly a flash of red shot past Amélie pulling her from her thoughts, this flash was followed by the sound of Amber giving an irritated groan. “Hi Piper” she said, her voice deadpan.

 

Amélie appraised the newcomer, long ginger hair flowing over her shoulders, very light makeup and a lot of freckles on her face.

 

“Amélie this is Piper, my twin” Amber sighed “I probably didn’t need to say that bit” it was less obvious than it would seem given the stark differences their hair, makeup and clothing made to them, but after a moment it was clear.

 

“Nope” came another voice. Amélie turned around as another newcomer neared her, what she saw was a tall muscular girl with a grin on her face, she had brown hair pulled back into a ponytail with her fringe framing her face “I’m Quinn, don’t let those two bother you” she held out her hand and Amélie shook it, she had a very strong grip.

 

“Wait!” Piper exclaimed after seemingly being lost in thought for a few moments she moved so she was stood between Amélie and Quinn so she could look at the bluenette “You’re _the_ Amélie” she nodded with a raised brow, which appeared to be a mistake as the shorter ginger girl appeared to take this as a signal to latch onto Amélie, it seemed to last longer than it should but the French girl did like the soft smell of coconut that accompanied her, Piper pulled away and looked at her with a massive grin “Lena’s girlfriend!”

 

Before Amélie could comment she hears the door open behind her, but she didn't turn around straight away as her attention is focused on how Piper froze in place before she started bouncing excitedly on the spot for just a moment before she shouts “LENA!” happily and bolts past Amélie.

 

As the French girl turned, she saw Piper squeezing Lena into a hug, Amélie smirked when she realised Lena was shorter than all her sisters.

 

“Hiya Pipes” Lena said with a laugh “Missed you too”

 

After it becomes clear that Piper is unlikely to let go anytime soon, Quinn folds her arms and laughs “Piper, let her go” Piper let out an audible moan and mumbled something about Lena being the best hugger which makes Amélie chuckle.

 

“Hi Amé” Lena says with a smile as she nears and leans up to kiss her cheek.

 

“Hi _Chérie_ ” Amélie replied pulling Lena into a hug.

 

“Why do I feel like a third wheel here?” Quinn mumbled with a smirk.

 

“Oooo, does that make me the forth wheel?” Piper asked happily with yet another grin on her freckled cheeks.

 

“Looks like we’ve got the damn whole car” Amber says dryly drawing a chuckle from Amélie and Quinn, as the couple separated, Lena of course was blushing furiously “Tomato alert!” Amber added to which Lena pulled her hood over head and looked down so nobody could see her face.

 

Quinn chuckled and wrapped her arm around the small girls’ shoulders as they began walking together, Amélie couldn’t make out the conversation as they moved away, Piper hummed a melody to herself as she happily skipped past them and along behind the others until she caught up and took Lena’s hand.

 

“Piper really does love Lena" Amber said softly “I almost forgot what she was like when they were together"

 

“Complicated relationship?” Amélie asked following the pink haired girls lead as she began walking after her sisters.

 

“You don't know most of it" Amber said sadly putting her hands in her pockets “Anyway" she said cheerfully “What you wearing tonight?”

 

Amélie frowned, she was slightly confused about Ambers comment but replied with a smile none the less, “I have a nice casual suit"

 

“A suit?” Amber let out a low whistle “I had you pegged for a dress person, but I can totally see you rocking a suit"

 

“I do like a good dress, but Dorado is going to be busy tonight and I do not want people stepping on it" Amélie said softly “It should be fun though”

 

“Should be?” Amber laughed “It's going to be awesome! I mean seriously, a retro night what’s not to love?”

 

“I am partial to dancing"

 

“Ha! Hence the suit, easier to dance in"

 

Amélie chuckled “I will have you know that I can actually dance in a dress" she smirked “One time in a backless ballroom gown”

 

Amber blushed slightly “I bet its a sight to see"

 

“You might get the chance, _petit chiot_ ” Amélie said with a victorious smile as she elicited  another blush from Amber, she walked slightly ahead now and they continued to chat on happier topics throughout the walk to Amélie's dorm, they caught up with the others and continued the happy banter as a group, but Amélie couldn’t shake the feeling that something was being hidden from her.

 

Once back in the dorm they encountered Olivia and Gabriel arguing with a very stubborn Jack Morrison.

 

“Seriously _pendaho_!” Olivia snapped “You are not wearing that”

 

“What's wrong with it?” Jack asked folding his arms.

 

“Your jeans have holes in!” Gabriel sighed rubbing his face with the palm of his hand.

 

“So, do yours?” Jack retorted.

 

“Yes" Gabriel groaned with an expression that suggested he was about ready to punch his boyfriend “But I'm not wearing them _tonight_ ” he emphasised the word popping the final letter.

 

“What do want me to wear then?”

 

“Something else!” Olivia all but yelled “How old are you, twelve? Want daddy to dress you?” both Jack and Gabriel blushed. “Oh. My. GOD! You two are fucking impossible” she turned and walked towards the main door and stopped near Amélie “You deal with him I'm going to see Hana before I hit someone, if he wears that I swear I'll cut his dick off"

 

“Why do you all swear so much?” Piper asked sadly with wide eyes. Olivia mumbled an apology before leaving the room, Amélie heard the other dorms door open and close behind her.

 

“Let me make this simple” Amélie said approaching Jack with a straight face and choosing to keep all emotion from her voice “You can choose to wear something remotely presentable or Quinn” she gestured towards the girl over her shoulder as she spoke “will hold you down while I dress you in Gérard’s pink suit” she pulled her phone out opening Gérard’s contact card with practised ease before holding it so the screen was facing him and her thumb was hovering over the call button “You choose"

 

Jack swallowed and nodded before shuffling past Amélie towards the other dorm.

 

Amber let out a long whistle “Not that I needed it, but damn, thanks for the reminder to not piss you off and you weren’t even mad this time"

 

“Amber!” Piper chastised “Swears are bad"

 

“Pipes" Quinn laughed “You know she wont change” Piper looked down sadly, Quinn wrapped her arm around her shoulder in response “Why don't we go get ready for tonight, you can show me your dress" Piper cheered up in an instant as Quinn began leading her out of the room and further into the dorm building towards the elevators.

 

“I better get going too" Amber said as she left waving over her shoulder “Laters"

 

With the three girls gone that left Amélie, Gabriel and Lena in an awkward silence. She glanced at the time on her phone, they had a few hours before Dorado opened for pre-party drinks.

 

“Lena, do you mind if I get ready first? Amélie asked to break it, regardless of the fact they had already arranged that very thing earlier that morning.

 

“Sure" she replied with a smile, clearly thankful for breaking the silence in the room “I'm going to make nibbles"

 

“No marmite!” Gabriel said as Amélie opened their dorm-room door, she heard Lena giggle “Lena I’m serious" Gabriel emphasized as the door closed cutting off their voices, Amélie sighed, it had been a strange day and the more she thought about it the more she felt she needed to visit the counsellor again. She frowned, _dammit Angela!_

 

Deciding she would deal with her friend later, she walked across to her dresser to retrieve her clothes, she carefully pulled out the shirt and trousers she had ironed earlier before setting them gently on her bed, she opened another drawer and took out her jacket which she held up to the light to inspect, finding it in a suitable state she placed it on her bed with the rest and pulled her t-shirt over her head.

 

Once the t-shirt was deposited into the clothes basket, they had in the corner near the door she turned her attention to the mirror to check her make-up.

 

She gave it a brief touch up and made her eyeliner a little heavier before moving her head side to side checking her features from different angles, happy with how she looked she smiled at her reflection and gave a soft nod as she turned her attention to her hair, and so began the laborious task of straightening it.

 

Once complete she pulled on her shirt buttoning it up save for the top two buttons, after a moment she removed her jeans so she could swap them for a pair of grey trousers, once these were in place she tucked the shirt into them leaving a small amount of space around her waist loose before fastening them, she adeptly had her belt in place within a few seconds. Finally, she sat on the bed and pulled on her boots carefully tucking them under each of her trouser legs to ensure there were no unnecessary creases.

 

Standing back up she took a few tentative steps, pondering whether to keep her boots or switch to heels, after a moment she decided to keep her boots and turned her attention back to the mirror, tilting her head to the left, she adjusted her long hair and looked at her shirt wondering if she made the wrong choice going with purple.

 

Deciding not to change her shirt she carefully draped her jacket over her arm and left the room. Once she closed the door behind her a wolf whistle came from nearby, she didn’t need to look around to know who it was.

 

“Hello Gérard" she said causing her friend to laugh.

 

“Amé, you look amazing” he said.

 

“ _Merci_ ” she said with a chuckle as she approached the kitchen counter. “You don’t look bad yourself" she smirked her friend took every opportunity her could to wear a suit., she wasn’t sure about the decision to wear a bowtie though, not that she would tell him, one thing that was always true about Gérard was that he looked good in a suit, the bad thing, he knew he did.

 

She turned her attention to the kitchen counter, Lena had been busy it seemed, there was a rather large spread and despite Gabriel’s protestations quite a few of the snacks did in fact involve the use of marmite. Not that she was complaining, she had developed a taste for it since Lena had introduced it to her, so had most of their friends, even Olivia who according to Lena had been using way too much of it in the past, it apparently required only a light spread.

 

The Brit herself was humming a tune that Amélie couldn’t quite place as she was making some form of drink that involved a lot of chopped fruit, a few bottles of alcohol and a blender, which began whirling as Amélie was about to ask where Gabriel had vanished to, but she saw him a moment later leaving his room in a rather fetching waistcoat and slacks, although if she were being honest he could have polished his shoes, but beggars cant be choosers she was willing to open admit that it was better that his usual, ripped jeans, hoodies  and that infernal beanie hat of his.

 

Once the blender was turned off, she was greeted by a glass of reddish liquid and a rather large helping of ice, but before she could comment on it Lena was already disappearing into their room, no doubt to get changed. Amélie had to admit that the drink did look appealing.

 

Gabriel picked up his glass and took a tentative sip before taking a bigger drink followed by a smile. “That’s some good stuff"

 

“Enough for us?” Came a familiar voice behind them, Amélie didn’t need to turn to know that the sisters had returned.

 

“Plenty” She replied taking a drink of from her own glass before she turned. She held the glass much like she would a fine wine, and in some ways the drink she held was, a smooth fruity taste with matching aroma that held the distinct scent of alcohol, which was not too overpowering  she smiled as Piper made her way to the blender to pour her own glass from the jug.

 

The girl was wearing a garish pink dress. But the French girl had to admit, it suited her perfectly, the other sisters, well she couldn’t really describe them.

 

Quinn wore a black shirt and slacks with an Orange waistcoat, her shirt sleeves were rolled up and her boots, which went under the legs of her trousers, were polished to a shine.

 

Amber however wore knee high black boots over form fitting black trousers with an orange shirt, just like her sister the sleeves were rolled up, over the top of which was a black waistcoat. Amélie also couldn’t help but admire the tattoo sleeve on the girls left arm, such a vibrant floral design.

 

Looking back at Piper she saw the girl had a sash around her waist that held a light orange colouring that didn’t clash with her dress like it would have should she have had one the same orange hue which her sisters wore, Amélie did however find it strange that they all appeared to wear orange.

 

Before she could ponder further or ask why they all wore something orange her dorm room door opened, her question was answered, however she instantly lost her train of thought along with her breathe.

 

Lena stood before her with a shy smile on her freckled face, her eyes hidden behind a pair of new hipster style glasses. She did a slow bashful twirl when prompted too by Gérard.

 

Lena was wearing a backless dress the top of which covered in orange polka dots up until the white belt wrapped around her waist, the rest of the dress was black. The dress itself stopped just after her knees, as Amélie’s gaze travelled down her friends toned legs she couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips, or the chuckle that followed when she noticed that Lena was wearing a pair of brand new orange converse, the same pair Amélie had bought her a week earlier.

 

Lena went back into the room and came out again holding a leather jacket which she pulled on completing her retro almost rockabilly look.

 

“Amé" Gérard said softly from her side.

 

Amélie looked at Lena and the Brit smiled at her, her new glasses were square as opposed to circular and looked a little too large for her face but that fact just made her appear even more adorable, at least in Amélie’s opinion, but if she were honest with herself, that opinion was a little biased.

 

“Allow me a moment _Chérie_ " she said with a smile “I must retrieve my jaw from the floor I appear to have dropped it” Lena blushed which broadened Amélie’s smile.

 

“Why all the orange?” Gabriel asked.

 

“Family colour?” Piper said but it sounded more like a question.

 

“Who cares we look amazing!” Amber said cheerfully and quite matter-of-factly “Now who’s for booze?”

 

Dorado was busy as expected, especially a few hours after they arrived when the party was in full swing. Amélie found herself stood at the bar with Lucio as Uptown Funk played over the speakers, the DJ was relaxed not having to worry about the music for change given the fact he had pre-recorded a mix, that however didn’t stop him from bopping up and down on the spot and singing along happily.

 

Amélie’s gaze was on Angela and Fareeha who were dancing in the middle of the crowds scattered around the dancefloor that had been setup. Angela had her hair down cascading over her shoulders and was wearing a beautiful white dress, Fareeha however wore a deep blue suit, the jacket of which waved behind her as she danced. They couldn’t stop smiling at one another.

 

“I thought you would be dancing" came a voice from her left.

 

She glanced over and was face to face with Quinn. “I have yet to find the right partner this evening, she will be around somewhere”

 

“Oh, she is" Quinn chuckled taking a sip of her drink “She and Piper are dancing with Amber.” She nodded behind Amélie.

 

When she turned, she could see the three of them dancing happily, well Lena and Piper were, Amber looked to having fun watching her sisters while she bobbed her head or shuffled on the spot giving the illusion of dancing.

 

“Well time to mix it up a little" Lucio said downing his drink “I think the shuffle has earned a break”

 

Amélie laughed “I knew you couldn’t resist"

 

“You know me, I love music" Lucio gave a chuckle and ran to stage “DJ on decks!” he bellowed when he arrived the crowd cheered.

 

A few tracks in to his set Amélie’s attention was diverted to her right as someone took the seat next to her before tapping her shoulder. Amélie didn’t appreciate the disturbance, so she looked from Olivia and Gabriel with whom she was having a conversation, only to be greeted by Giselle.

 

“Hello Amé" she stood and held out a hand “May I have this dance?”

 

“No" she replied and turned back, but Giselle walked around her and stood between her and her friends.

 

“Take a fucking hint" Gabriel snarled “Just leave”

 

“Just one dance Amélie, please"

 

“You already have my answer" Amélie laughed bitterly “No.”

 

As Giselle was about to a speak of soft cough came from behind them which was only just audible over the music. Lena stood there with a very angry looking Amber, who had her arms crossed and a harsh glare directed at Giselle.

 

“Can I dance with you Amélie?” Lena asked somewhat nervously “Please?” Amélie smiled, took a drink from her glass and placed her glass back on the bar before holding out her hand. Lena smiled as she took it and began leading her towards the dancefloor. But Amélie kept looking back as she felt Giselle’s glare burrowing into her back.

 

Her attention was then diverted by a soft hand on her cheek guiding her gaze to her friend’s face. Lena looked back at her with those soft brown eyes peering out from beneath those large framed glasses. She was beautiful.

 

“Don’t look back, just stay with me" Lena said and took her hands leading her into a dance. Amélie gave herself over to the music and found herself more than once getting lost in her friend’s eyes, she had a strange feeling in her stomach, a tingling sensation.

 

The song changed but neither one of them realised it on a conscious level, their bodies adapted to the beat, but they only had eyes for one another. A private moment between them in a public place.

 

“Amé" Lena said softly “I think... I…" she glanced away and Amélie moved her hand free from her friends grip, placed it on her cheek and diverted her gaze so they once again met each other’s eyes.

 

“I know _Chérie_ " Amélie smiled “I love you too"

 

A moment passed as they moved as one, Amélie’s hand still rested on her cheek as a tear left Lena's eye, Amélie used her thumb to wipe it away and leaned forward where their lips met for the first time.

 

They had kissed before, but these were on the cheek or even once or twice on the forehead, but this, Amélie’s heart beat faster in her chest, she was scared she had overstepped. But then her heat began to soar when she felt Lena return her kiss.

 

Their first kiss, their first stepping stone as a couple. They broke apart and Lena smiled.

 

“I love you” Lena said and hugged her tight resting her head on the taller girl’s chest as Amélie wrapped her arms her around her girlfriend... Girlfriend, Amélie smiled, Lena was her Girlfriend, there was no denying now.

 

She looked down at Lena who was smiling wide and happily huddled against her as they swayed on the dancefloor, dancing long forgotten, now they were a couple sharing an embrace. Amélie looked up saw a few of her friends grouped up at the bar all looking in her direction with smiles on their faces.

 

Gérard raised his glass with a nod and Amélie was sure she saw him mouth the words “Took you long enough"

 

Her thoughts settled on the fact they had just shared their first kiss, and she was looking forward to spending more time with Lena and developing their relationship, she leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of Lena's head.

 

“Let’s go and get a drink, _Chérie_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again apologies for the delay with this one, I have three separate drafts of this chapter featuring different events and for the life of me I could not choose which to use.
> 
> As always thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. :)


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